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Japanese stars Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani lead Dodgers to 4-1 win over Cubs in MLB Tokyo Series 2025 opener
- Can the Cubs mount a late comeback?
- The Dodgers just keep rolling, and the Cubs haven’t had a hit since Ian Happ led off the third inning with a single.
- The Cubs’ offense has gone cold as the game has progressed, with Dodgers relievers Anthony Banda and Ben Casparius picking up where Yoshinobo Yamamoto left off with two more scoreless innings. Dave Roberts has no shortage of high-end options to turn to for the final two frames. Might we see the Dodgers debuts of Kirby Yates and/or Tanner Scott?
- The Dodgers worked a walk in the top of the seventh, but otherwise went down quietly, as did the Cubs in the bottom of the inning. Reliever Eli Morgan replaced Ben Brown for the Cubs, and Ben Casparius replaced Anthony Banda for the Dodgers.
- The Dodgers threatened again in the top of the sixth, but Ben Brown struck out Shohei Ohtani to end the inning. The Cubs went down in order against Dodgers reliever Anthony Banda.
- The Dodgers were clearly happy to see Imanaga leave the game, as they immediately produced a rally against reliever Ben Brown in the top of the fifth inning. After being no-hit by Imanaga through four innings, L.A. collects three hits in the frame and benefits from a Jon Berti throwing error to seize a 3-1 lead. Yamamoto is at 63 pitches heading to the bottom of the fifth — we’ll see how long he remains in the game before Dave Roberts turns it over to the loaded Dodgers bullpen.
- Tommy Edman drove in Pages with a single, and Ohtani scored on a Teoscar Hernández groundout and throwing error by Cubs second baseman Jon Berti. A Will Smith single then scored Hernández for a 3-1 Dodgers lead.
- Shota Imanaga is done after four innings and just 69 pitches. The Japanese southpaw didn’t allow a single hit to the Dodgers in his homecoming start, but he walked four batters, more free passes than he gave away in any start last year. Seems like Cubs skipper Craig Counsell didn’t want his starter facing the potent Dodgers lineup a third time through, especially when Imanaga didn’t have his best control.
- In the top of the inning, the Dodgers worked two walks off Shota Imanaga, but the Cubs were able to escape unscathed. The Dodgers’ offense, meanwhile, went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the frame. Ben Brown is replacing Imanaga for the fifth inning.
- The Dodgers offense went down in order in the top of the inning, while the Cubs picked up another hit via Ian Happ. But they weren’t able to capitalize this time, and the score is still 1-0 Chicago.
- Cubs take an early lead on an RBI double to the right-center-field gap from catcher Miguel Amaya. Having signed as a 16-year-old out of Panama in 2015, the now-26-year-old Amaya is one of the longest-tenured members of the Cubs organization, and he’s finally getting his chance to be the every-day backstop. Catcher has been a weak spot for the Cubs since the departure of Willson Contreras in free agency, so Amaya’s development is an important thing to monitor this season.
- Dansby Swanson got the first hit of the game, and Miguel Amaya brought him home with a double to center field.
- The Cubs’ starter walked Will Smith and Max Muncy to lead off the inning but was able to get the next three Dodgers batters to fly out.
- Ian Happ worked a leadoff walk against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but the Cubs couldn’t capitalize any further.
